


I’ve been making lots of plans (it’s cool we’re just friends)

by dearericbittle (dutchmoxie)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Didn't Know They Were Dating, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Minor Melissa McCall/Sheriff Stilinski, Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, POV Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25652275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchmoxie/pseuds/dearericbittle
Summary: Stiles had really been enjoying the one on one time with Derek this past summer. Dude’s a seriously awesome friend, always paying for shit, always doing stuff that he somehow knows Stiles will like, going along with the million traditions Stiles has created for the two of them. Is it weird that Stiles kind of wants to date him now? It's gonna suck being back at Berkeley and not having Derek with him.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 78
Kudos: 899
Collections: A Very Sterek Summer fest 2020





	I’ve been making lots of plans (it’s cool we’re just friends)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [christinesficrecs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/christinesficrecs/gifts), [fairydustedtheory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairydustedtheory/gifts).



> For day 7 of A Very Sterek Summer: I think we're going back.   
> Automatic brownie points if you get that reference. And double if you also know where I got the title without looking it up.   
> Dedicated to the best "squad". Couldn't have done it without you.

Summer was coming to an end. The days were already getting shorter, though the temperature was making a solid, convincing argument that summer didn’t actually have to be over just yet. The calendar, however, was not convinced. 

“Ugh, I can’t believe I’ll have to go back soon,” Stiles complained over milkshakes at the diner. 

He was sitting in his favorite booth in his favorite diner, with his favorite shake, wondering if it would be rude if he unbuttoned the top button on his jeans. He’d packed away far too many curly fries, and it probably looked like he was about to have a food baby - any second now. He’d just been starving, because apparently his metabolism continued to be ridiculous even after he’d left his teens behind him. And also, the curly fries were incredible here. 

That and the company for this particular lunch was even better. 

“Berkeley isn’t that far away,” Derek had to remind him yet again. 

“I know, dude,” Stiles nodded, while still clinging to his straw with his teeth - only to realize that probably looked really weird. “You keep saying that. But when I get back to studying, I’ll be too busy to make it out to Beacon Hills for our weekly movie night.”

Sometimes he wondered why Derek put up with the flailing, but then he was reminded that Derek was at least as awkward as Stiles was. Which was just one of the many reasons why their blossoming friendship had been so fucking awesome, and clearly the best part of his summer spent back home. His last summer spent back home before he had to go into the real world and accept that he was technically an adult now. Which, ew. 

“I can come up to Berkeley,” Derek acted like that was no big deal. 

“Dude, I can’t just ask you to drive over just because I want to spend time with you,” Stiles knew it was, in fact, a big deal. “You’ll be there all the time. I might not let you leave.” 

Sure, Stiles had just been home for a few months, but it seemed like everything had changed. 

When he returned home after his junior year of college, he’d been exhausted yet bored, and complaining to his Dad that he was going to die of loneliness before the month was out. Because there was no way that his Dad could get the time off, and it seemed like the Hellmouth had finally closed when the last of the pack had left town. 

Well, not the last of the pack. Derek was still here. He was the only one, though. 

“Really?” Derek looked shyly pleased. 

“If you don’t know by now that you’re basically my favorite person,” Stiles started, feeling a twinge of betrayal at daring to admit it, “then I don’t know where you’ve been hiding. We’ve spent basically all summer together, and it’s been the best.” 

It had gotten to the point that it felt wrong not to spend time with Derek every single day. They had so many rituals, so many new traditions that they’d only just started and Stiles just really didn’t want to abandon just because real life showed up to punch him in the face with the reminder that classes would be starting soon. 

“I don’t want it to end,” Stiles pouted and whined. 

“I’ll come to Berkeley,” Derek repeated the offer. “Every Friday night if you want.” 

For Friday Night Cheesy Horror Movie Night - or FNCHMN - the first tradition they’d established when Stiles ran into Derek at the grocery store his first week back. Stiles had been carrying far too much junk food that he was going to heroically attempt to finish all by himself, and Derek had been idly walking the aisles, seemingly just looking for something to do. It was tragic, and made Stiles extend the world’s most awkward movie invitation. 

So much had changed since then. 

“I can’t just let you drive back in the middle of the night,” Stiles refused to let Derek fall asleep at the wheel because of him. “I get that your awesome werewolf powers mean that you don’t need as much sleep as I do, but having you drive for several hours after midnight is bad. And I won’t have it. It would make me the shittiest of people. The worst person ever!” 

Sure, the odds of Derek falling asleep behind the wheel and actually hurting himself were pretty damn low, but he knew that the wolf wouldn’t want to risk the lives of fragile humans just because he’d been too stubborn to stay home that time. Derek was the kind of guardian that Stiles had hoped Scott would eventually grow into, the kind of loyal Beta that was a great asset to any pack. Except Beacon Hills didn’t have a pack anymore these days. 

All it had was a lone wolf and an aging Sheriff and his nurse girlfriend, with summer visits from a college student who was supposed to be a Spark, but couldn’t do more than work mountain ash. 

“Peter,” Derek presented his counter-argument quickly. 

“Okay, so he’s actually the worst,” Stiles had to acknowledge the validity of Derek’s excellent argument. “You win, you’re right. But still, it’s too much to ask.” 

Hadn’t he taken advantage of Derek enough by now? He’d monopolized basically all of Derek’s free time - and it still wasn’t enough, because unlike Stiles, Derek actually had to work through the summer. Not that Stiles wasn’t doing some supernatural consulting for cash, but that took up a lot less time than Derek’s full-time job as the town’s favorite accountant. 

“It’s not,” Derek was getting ready to dig his heels in. “Not if I want to do it.” 

Why would he want to? Sure, they were totally besties now, and Stiles would love it if Derek visited him at Berkeley and brought the spark back into his college life, but it was still a lot to ask from anyone, let alone someone he’d barely been able to call a friend before this summer. 

An acquaintance, maybe. An ally, more likely. But a friend? Not without looking over his shoulder to check if Derek was around to hear him say it. 

“No way,” Stiles was ready to try and out-stubborn Derek. 

“Yes way,” Derek dead-panned.

It was just so dry and so unexpected that Stiles had to laugh. Though it definitely wasn’t the first time that Derek surprised him with his sense of humor, Stiles still hadn’t gotten sick of it. He was pretty damn sure that he was never going to get bored of Derek’s dry wit working in concert with his brows of sass. So it was great that Derek didn’t appear to be sick of him either. 

Apparently he was actually fond of Stiles, enough so to spend hours in a car every single week, just to see him. Apparently he valued Stiles’ company enough to go ridiculously out of his way, even though Stiles had worried Derek wasn’t going to want to keep up the friendship if they were forced to go long-distance. Though, not like actually long-distance like it would have been if Stiles had accepted Columbia’s scholarship instead of Berkeley’s. 

The commute between Beacon Hills and New York would have been impossible. 

“Alright, I have a better idea,” Stiles had a lightbulb moment. “Since I’m no longer in the dorms this year - thank fuck - you’re going to crash with me. I’ll even throw in breakfast on Saturday morning. That should sweeten the pot. And I promise I don’t snore.” 

How he knew that? Well, Malia and Lydia had never said anything, and neither had Scott on one of his many sleepovers. His Dad had never complained either, and because Stiles was kind of a paranoid shit, he’d once recorded himself sleeping. It had been after the Jackson thing, when it was Stiles’ turn to worry that there was something seriously wrong with him. 

But that was not a happy place to take his thoughts. 

“Do you even have a couch?” Derek wasn’t convinced. 

“Not yet,” Stiles didn’t see that as an actual obstacle. “But I have a bed.” 

Look, if Derek insisted on a couch or sleeping on the floor, Stiles was going to have to actually pool some money to get a cheap couch at Goodwill a bit sooner than planned, but Stiles didn’t actually see much of a problem with sharing his bed with Derek. He’d outgrown the twin bed and managed to find a queen sized bed that was going to keep it from getting too awkward. 

Though let’s be honest, there was going to be some awkwardness. 

Sure, Stiles didn’t have a California King like Derek did, but he didn’t have room for one anyway - especially because he was usually sleeping solo these days. He’d been single since Lydia had decided to go to MIT, because that was never going to last, and while he’d fooled around with people since then (in the midst of his slutty bisexual stereotype phase), there hadn’t been anyone serious since then. But he wasn’t all that bummed about it. 

“Are you sure?” Derek asked, like Stiles was a virgin on prom night. 

“Do  _ you _ snore?” Stiles asked in return, because maybe that would make Derek realize this totally wasn’t that big of a deal. “Do you plan to take me in my sleep? Because I’m really not into the whole somnophilia thing. Hate to disappoint. If you’re disappointed, that is.” 

That was embarrassing, and yet it didn’t even hit the top three of most embarrassing things that Stiles had said and/or done in front of Derek. So it was all good, he didn’t have to make a big deal out of his apology. All he had to do was let Derek mock him for a little bit if he felt like it, or let him ignore it if he didn’t. Because that’s how easy this friendship was. 

“Feel free to ignore that,” Stiles was totally not embarrassed. 

“Ignore what?” Derek quirked an eyebrow. 

The eyebrows continued to be worth a thousand words and then some, and Stiles derived a lot of pleasure from having entire conversations with Derek using just facial expressions. He hadn’t managed to turn that into a full-blown tradition, but he’d find a way, eventually. 

“You are always welcome in my bed, dude,” Stiles vowed, and then hurried to finish off his milkshake before he could say anything else. 

Damn, the milkshake was just as delicious now as it was the first thirty times he’d had it this summer. He would have gained back his freshman fifteen, his sophomore six and his junior… whatever and then some, if Derek didn’t drag him into an athletic routine as well. Sure, Stiles had complained endlessly about getting up early multiple times a week to go running with Derek, and even more so about the Sunday morning yoga. 

Though now that Sunday Morning Yoga was a shirtless event and Stiles was able to use his core strength to accomplish all kinds of miracles, it wasn’t all that bad. 

“Thanks,” Derek said, surprisingly sincerely. 

And well, that was that. That was just how easy it was to get his weekly dose of Derek after the academic year started, because Derek didn’t force him to work for every single minute they spent together. Derek made it far too easy for Stiles to get a little bit addicted to being someone’s number one priority, to having someone around all the time just because he wanted to be. Not just because Stiles was all he had, even though Derek didn’t have anyone else. 

No one in the pack had stayed in touch - sure, there was the occasional email from France (Isaac, studying at the Sorbonne) or from Argentina (Cora, with her so-called real pack), and weekly postcards from wherever Kira was this week, but no one else seemed to care about how Derek was holding up. Because to them, pack was temporary. 

At least Stiles still merited the occasional phone call and a real life visit at Berkeley once a year. 

“Time to get back to work?” Stiles pouted at Derek. 

“Some of us have a job to do,” Derek teased. “Let me get the bill and I’ll take you back home.” 

Derek’s generosity had been surprising at first, until Stiles started putting some pieces together, realizing that Derek had been providing for the people he considered his pack for years without ever calling attention to it. Until he realized that Derek had been Isaac’s guardian, that he’d helped Erica’s parents with their medical bills and made sure that Boyd had a place to go even if something happened to his family. And that he treated Stiles with the level of care and devotion that was going to make him one hell of a partner to one very lucky person. 

“Nah, it’s all good,” Stiles patted Derek on the shoulder awkwardly. “I was planning to walk around a bit, maybe buy some more books or go harass Dad for a bit.” 

Look, could one ever have enough books? Of course not. Even though the selection in Beacon Hills was pretty damn tragic, Stiles enjoyed going through the secondhand books to look for any hidden gems people hadn’t known they had. Because while Wikipedia spirals were still fun and happened often, there was something about reading actual books that appeased a restless part of him. That and he was tempted to start a book club with Derek now that they wouldn’t have their usual Saturday afternoon reading time. 

Damn, he was going to miss that reading nook at Derek’s. 

“Alright,” Derek seemed a bit disappointed. “I’ll see you tonight?” 

It was kind of adorable how Derek asked for confirmation, even though he really should have known by now that Stiles had no life and was eager to spend all of his time with Derek. The Sheriff joined them occasionally on Thursday nights, but tonight he was doing the date night thing with his lady. And while sometimes Melissa was fine doing dinner with the entire family, there were also times that they wanted to date without Stiles’ running commentary. 

He couldn’t blame her for that, probably. 

“Of course,” Stiles was offended that Derek thought that was actually a question. “It’s Throwback Thursday. Where else would I be?” 

Nostalgic dishes from back when they were young, accompanied by a playlist made up of tracks from their childhoods - Throwback Thursday really was the best name for it, no matter what Derek had to say about that. Because the social media hashtag had been the whole reason that Stiles had managed to make a Thursday night tradition happen, even though they’d already had the Monday Kickoff, the Taco Tuesday lunches, Wednesday Workouts and of course FNCHMN. And Saturday afternoon Reading Party, and Sunday Morning Yoga. 

And then the non-scheduled lunches and dinners and random meet-ups. 

“That’s not what we’re calling it,” Derek still wasn’t having it. 

“I’ll workshop it some more then,” Stiles sighed, because of Derek and his standards. 

Derek’s standards were kind of up there, which ranged from being charming and cute to being really fucking annoying. Right now Stiles was leaning more towards kind of adorable, so all was still right with the world. 

“You do that,” Derek rolled his eyes. “Dinner’s at six thirty.” 

Just like it was every Thursday, or any other night that Derek was cooking. Stiles usually cooked on Saturdays, to give Derek more time with his books, but Thursdays were all Derek, even though sometimes dinner involved Polish dishes that Stiles’ mom used to make. Tonight it was Derek’s turn to choose, which meant that Stiles would be sampling Stephen Hale’s cooking again. Maybe he shouldn’t have had the extra portion of curly fries. 

Nah, he’d work that off somehow. 

“You remind me every time,” Stiles pulled Derek in for a quick hug. “Now git.” 

Derek barely had a couple of seconds to properly scent Stiles, which was something he was definitely going to hear about later, but he was probably already late for work because of Stiles - and Stiles really didn’t need Mrs. Berger to hate him even more than she already did for monopolizing Derek’s attention all the time. 

Sorry Cougar Town, but that was never going to happen. 

* * *

Derek had for some reason pulled out all the stops on their last Throwback Thursday for the foreseeable future, and it was making Stiles feel a little weird. But like, only in the best way, because Derek somehow remembered all of Stiles’ favorites among the Hale family recipes, and he’d made his Mom’s famous red velvet cheesecake for dessert. 

Because he was trying to kill Stiles with food. 

“This is so good,” Stiles moaned like a pornstar. 

“Jesus, Stiles,” Derek was weird about that too. 

It wasn’t even the first time that Stiles had been so very vocally appreciative of the amazing food that Derek had made for him. It wasn’t even the first time tonight that he’d moaned and licked his lips and basically fellated a utensil. Like, that was just normal now. 

Derek probably should have been used to it by now. 

“I’m sorry, did you not like the pornstar impression?” Stiles was a brazen little shit about it. 

Which also should not have been a surprise. Because Stiles basically only had two options: pretending it had never happened or just brazening it out. And the more comfortable he got with Derek the more he chose that second option. Also just because it was way more entertaining and gave Derek the opportunity to get sassy with him again. 

“You’ve done better,” Derek was apparently trying to challenge him now. 

“Oh, are you sure you want to go there?” Stiles was so down for that challenge. “Because I will take that and run with it. And you’ll be sorry. So, last chance to back out.” 

Look, spite and challenges were the best ways to get him to do something, and Derek knew that by now, which meant that he usually only challenged Stiles to make a point. And Stiles was kind of really curious what point Derek was trying to make here, so he was already thinking of the kind of things he could moan after his next bite. He was good at dirty talk after all, and he kind of wanted to see if Derek would blush or actually give as good as he got in return. 

“Crap, phone call,” Stiles sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll pick up where we left off.” 

That was exactly the kind of threat that worked well on Derek - full of bullshit but with enough zing to it that Derek was going to be thinking about it while Stiles dealt with his Dad. Because of course it was his Dad calling - who else would it be? The only other person it could be was with him right now - Scott’s monthly phone call had happened just a few days ago. 

“Can’t wait,” Derek managed to say before Stiles hit accept. 

Which was just… A lot. Did it seem like Derek was lying? No, it did not. 

So the idiot literally couldn’t wait until he got into Stiles’ embarrassing teasing some more?

“Hi Daddio,” Stiles was now even more determined to keep this brief. “What’s up?” 

He had a dessert to get back to and a Derek to freak out with extremely explicit dirty talk - because that was totally what friends did. Not that he didn’t want to talk to his Dad, he did, it was just that there had to be something wrong if his Dad was calling out of the blue like this. 

“Are you not going to be home tonight?” His Dad was being more than a little bit weird. 

“I’m at Derek’s,” Stiles knew that his Dad knew that. “It’s Throwback Thursday.” 

Sure, the tradition was only a few months old, but his Dad had taken part in it often enough to know that it was happening, and to expect Stiles to be home late and with a big smile on his dumb face. Heck, his Dad had specifically refused his invitation to join them tonight, so clearly he knew where Stiles was going to be. So why was he asking about it now, treating it like brand new information? Because that was what it sounded like. 

“That’s not what we’re calling it,” Derek continued to object. 

“It is for now,” Stiles shot back, because he wasn’t letting him win. 

Of course Derek just used his super hearing to listen in on his phone calls. Not that he would be able to avoid hearing Stiles, because subtle he was not. And every single time he mentioned Throwback Thursday, he said it loudly just to fuck with Derek. Because it was the perfect name and unless Derek came up with something better, he didn’t want to hear it. 

“Are you staying over?” His Dad just got progressively more awkward. 

“I hadn’t planned on it,” Stiles didn’t stay over at Derek’s much or ever, because boundaries. 

They still had some of those left. Not that Derek hadn’t offered to let him stay over, in the guest room that was always so very empty because unless Kira popped in for a few days, Derek lived alone. Completely alone, and okay now Stiles was sad about that again. 

Maybe he should accept the offer one of these days. 

“Would Derek mind if you did?” Sheriff John Stilinski was being suspicious as fuck. 

“Is this you sexiling me?” Stiles suddenly put the pieces together. “God, Dad, there are some things I really don’t need to know about. Please clean any surfaces that you might have gotten down on, and stay out of my room. Unless you need condoms.” 

Oh, of course that was what was going on here. Because it was date night, and apparently they couldn’t just go back to Melissa’s like they usually did. For whatever reason. At some point they were probably going to move in together - probably when Stiles’ Dad was sure that Stiles would have a place to stay as well. When he graduated, maybe. 

It hurt, but not as much as he’d expected it to. 

Maybe that was because of the reminder of the existence of old people sex. Of his Dad having sex. With his girlfriend. Because his Dad had a serious girlfriend. Scott’s Mom. Melissa. 

Yeah, sometimes that was still a bit of a mindfuck. Even though Melissa was the best. 

“I’m good, thanks,” Dad sounded far too smug there. 

“And that’s about all I can stand to hear about, thanks,” Stiles scrunched up his face. 

As long as the evidence was all cleaned up by the time he got home, it was going to be fine, he could handle it. That was, if he could stick around at Derek’s instead of sleeping in his car - though he doubted that Derek would kick him out, especially if his friend knew that Stiles couldn’t exactly crash anywhere else for the night. Actually, Derek would sooner sleep in Stiles’ car himself rather than let Stiles sleep outside. 

He was just that kind of selfless, martyring idiot. 

“Like you and your boyfriend are going to spend all night listening to old Disney soundtracks,” the Sheriff was far too quick with that response. “Sure, that’s what I like to pretend goes on between the two of you, but I know better than that.” 

Old Disney soundtracks were an important staple of Throwback Thursdays, especially seeing as some of those movies represented valued memories of family to the both of them. So yeah, they could probably listen to those all night, after Stiles finally got to finish dessert. Or perhaps they could do a Disney movie instead, because that didn’t cut into FNCHMN at all. It was a completely different genre of movie, after all. 

But wait, did his Dad just say… Boyfriend?

“Boyfriend?” Stiles repeated dumbly. “Me? Boyfriend?” 

Because Stiles was pretty sure he didn’t have one of those. Unless he’d missed someone asking him out, and taking him on dates for weeks on end and maybe cooking dinner for him and making the effort to drive all the way out to Berkeley just to see him. 

Oh. Yeah. That… made a surprising amount of sense. 

“I know you never officially told me,” his Dad continued, “but your old man isn’t nearly as dumb as you think he is. Also, Derek asked for my blessing a few weeks ago.” 

Of course he hadn’t told his Dad - officially or unofficially. He hadn’t exactly known until a few seconds ago that they’d apparently been dating for a while. Because Derek had been stealthy as fuck, and Stiles had been his usual oblivious self, not even realizing that he was essentially being courted. Derek had been treating him well, and even though they’d supposedly been dating for weeks, he’d never even pushed Stiles. 

Oh god, that noble fucking asshole. Stiles was so stupidly into him. Into his boyfriend. 

“He did?” Stiles was stupidly endeared by it. 

“Remind me to tell you all about that some time,” Dad was totally down for Stiles getting those details, apparently. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a lovely lady waiting for me.” 

It probably wasn’t going to top the conversation that Stiles was already picturing in his head, with Derek bashfully showing up at the station, humbly requesting to see the Sheriff about a personal matter. Parrish - or another deputy - was showing him into the office, and Stiles’ Dad was just sitting there, trying to hide his grin, because he already knew what it was about. This was Derek after all, so it had to be about Stiles. 

And wasn’t that a pleasant feeling. It was Derek, so it had to be related to Stiles. 

“Tell Melissa not to wear you out too much,” Stiles blurted out before his brain had any input in that decision. “And I’ve officially grossed myself out. Great.” 

Derek was laughing in the background - and loudly too. Clearly he hadn’t yet figured out that Stiles had completely missed that they were dating. Like, in an actual relationship, a romantic relationship. Together. Stiles and Derek. Derek and Stiles. 

He was probably going to need a minute on the fainting couch after his Dad hung up. 

“Don’t tell me anything about what you and Derek are up to,” his Dad ordered. “And maybe don’t come back too early tomorrow. I’m sure Derek will take care of you until then.” 

Don’t come back too early? Dear Lord, he really didn’t want to know anything about just what his Dad was planning for the morning. There was nothing for it, he was just going to have to stay at Derek’s until he left for Berkeley and his Dad could defile the home to his heart’s content, without having to worry that Stiles might be around. 

“Bye Dad,” Stiles tried so hard not to think too hard on what was happening at home. 

And tried even harder not to think about just what he and Derek could get up to in the many hours they had to spend together - it was a shame that Derek actually had work in the morning, because Stiles had a very active imagination and only limited time to put it into action. He would have liked to at least have fooled around extensively with the boyfriend he didn’t know he had before he got back to Berkeley. And kissing. A lot of kissing. 

Perhaps a blowjob as well, but that was up to Derek. If Stiles ever told him it was an option. 

Which was something he should probably do. Right about now. 

“So, when’s our anniversary?” Stiles asked, because apparently that was his most pressing question. “I seem to have missed you asking me out on our first date.” 

Did he dare to look at Derek while his apparent boyfriend digested that particular morsel of information? It was both tempting and an incredibly terrible idea, because his words probably really hurt Derek’s feelings and he’d told himself that he wasn’t going to be one of the people who disappointed Derek. Stiles was determined to be good to him and good  _ for _ him - to be a damn exception. He’d just fucked that up though. So, great. 

“Jesus, Stiles,” Derek thought this was the perfect time for a facepalm. 

“You never actually asked me out,” Stiles felt like it was important Derek knew that. 

He was right about that, right? Stiles couldn’t recall Derek ever asking him if he wanted to go out, or the word date ever being used. 

“Wanna have dinner?” Derek actually used air quotes, and it was everything Stiles wanted it to be. “How is that not asking you out? I asked you to dinner, to lunch, to come over to my place, and I paid for everything. Because I wanted to. Not so you’d need to repay me.” 

Slowly the events of the summer reconstructed themselves in Stiles’ mind, forming a completely different picture. It was not the narrative of a new friendship that Stiles had been using to explain it to himself and others - instead it was the bloom of a new relationship, wanting to be around each other all of the time and making up excuses to do it. 

Stiles had made up so many excuses and traditions and events just to be around Derek. He just hadn’t put it together as being related to the crush he’d been in denial about. 

“I know,” Stiles smiled softly, because Derek was adorable. 

And he was actually allowed to notice that now. 

Sure, it was going to take some time to completely dig himself out of the river in Egypt, but he was definitely going to unlearn all of the defense mechanisms he’d developed to keep himself from noticing how amazing a partner Derek would be (and that anyone would be so very lucky to have him, and they’d better treat him right), or to keep from noticing how incredibly attractive Derek had always been. Sure, he’d been able to ignore it when Derek had been this asshole who was being a dick to Scott, but now that he knew better?

There had been some serious mental gymnastics involved. 

“We started officially dating about a month ago,” Derek actually took the time to explain. “When I asked you if you were seeing anyone else, and you said…” 

That sounded familiar. That sounded like a question that Derek had totally asked him, and Stiles had somehow managed to reframe as being about Stiles potentially hanging out with other friends instead of just with Derek. Because the obliviousness had been that bad. 

“Dude why would I want to?” Stiles remembered now. “Oh wow, yeah. I’m an idiot.” 

It had been completely true in a friendship context, but if Stiles had guessed even for a second that Derek was talking about a romantic relationship, he would still have given the exact same answer. Why would he want anyone who wasn’t Derek? Why would he want anyone when Derek was right there, already dating him and getting his Dad’s blessing because he knew how much Stiles’ Dad meant to him? Exactly. How could anyone else even compare? 

“You are,” Derek wasn’t going to deny that. “But I knew that when we started dating.” 

Even with the rudeness, no one else was going to be as good to Stiles. As good for him. 

And if Stiles hadn’t managed to fuck it up by not even knowing that they were dating, this actually had serious potential to last. Like, this wasn’t just going to be a college fling that wouldn’t last past graduation, it actually could very well be a forever thing. Because this was Derek, and he was not going to enter into any relationship lightly, and they’d known each other since Stiles was 16 and even more of an idiot. So this was a big deal. 

In the very best way. Stiles was ready for that - now that he’d pulled his head out of his ass. 

“So, what are we doing for our one month anniversary?” Stiles had to know. “Maybe, I don’t know, kissing? Is that a thing we could possibly do? Now that we’re dating...” 

Waiting for Derek to respond to that was a big deal, suddenly. Because what if Derek didn’t want to? Well, no, that would be fine because they’d been dating for a month without kissing and that totally wasn’t a deal-breaker or anything. But what if they both wanted to and it sucked? That was the true horror scenario here. Stiles was already pinning all of his hopes on Derek, and everything could totally still collapse because of a terrible kiss. 

What if they had no chemistry? Nah, that was ridiculous. They’d always had that. 

“A monthly anniversary is bullshit,” Derek actually rolled his eyes at him. “Anniversaries are once a year, otherwise they wouldn’t be called an anniversary.” 

He rolled his eyes so hard they might have actually popped out of his skull if he hadn’t been a werewolf. Stiles was dating a drama queen, and he was perfectly fine with that, because it meant that they were on the same level about this as well. 

Stiles had a certain kind of dramatic flair, after all. 

“Why wait until then, though?” Derek then asked, and Stiles gaped at him. 

“You’ve got moves,” Stiles probably shouldn’t have been surprised. “Show me more!” 

Derek surprised Stiles once again by literally sweeping him off his feet and carrying him to the bedroom. Stiles laughed the whole way there. 

Summer was coming to an end. But this? This relationship? That was only just beginning. 


End file.
